Counting the Hours
by Havaj
Summary: Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?
1. Chapter 1

**Counting the Hours**

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Rega, Slebony, Jady and Lex/Ram – some only references to though.

**Rating**: PG-13 for this chapter I think, there is some mild language.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter One**

_The door to the computer room swung open to reveal Java's form to striding into the room, her dark eyes holding doom yet not the spark of fire which used to rage there in. There was no flaw to this woman, her confident tone rang through people's minds so that there was no escape from her message and her looks were of the darkness beauty matched by none, yet to one person she was not satisfactory._

"_You wished to see me", she said in an almost board tone as she looked out of the corner of her eyes around the room before crossing her arms and pouting her lips slightly as she exhaled a breath, finally bringing her eyes back to her boss._

_She no longer cared about anything, not the power that she now contained nor the hundreds of people at her mercy. None of it was important to her as she had lost the only thing that mattered to her … love._

_Or at least, she thought that she had lost love. She was not depressed; she simply could not be bothered to do anything under her own steam. She worked as she was told to and got more power hoping that it would break her out of her numbness but nothing had worked._

_Mega starred at the screen which he was typing at, even as he heard Java entering, determined not to show her that he had been waiting for her. He had spent too long trying to pretend that he did not have any emotions to let her destroy all of his hard work. Since the day that his brother had left him he had realised that he was too weak and that he needed to become stronger. Then he met Ram and things reached a whole new level …_

_Through Ram he learnt that by not showing his emotions he could get more out of life and as he began to notice how everyone around him was a slave to their emotions making them easy prey to his devious schemes he became even more proud of the fact that he could hide his so well._

_As time past he began to view emotions as sickly things which must be stamped out, they were a disease, a weakness and Mega would have nothing to do with them._

_He was strong - as he viewed it - as he now felt nothing … until it came to Java. He was angry at her, not a slight annoyance but true burning anger. Mega knew that Java was evil, her darkness drew him to her as he saw a divine evilness which might one day match his own yet she was wasting it._

_For weeks he had noticed the way that her fire was burning out and the way that she was being smart with him, although she had lost her bite and he was determined to get it back. This was the last straw and he was going to let her know that she had crossed the line._

_First of all he finished his work enjoying making her wait … yes he was going to make her sorry for her attitude of late.._

_Java huffed slightly and shifted her weight from foot to foot after a while, which had been about five minutes. She was used to getting everyone's attention when she walked into the room and damn it she would have his too._

_She had wasted too long playing second fiddle to Ebony and then to Siva to let Mega start ignoring her now too. As she anger increased she opened her mouth to yell not caring that other Technos were watching but was cut off._

_Mega noticed that she was about ready to explode just as he pressed save he swung around in his chair to face her smirking slightly before ordering his men, "Leave us, now". Once the last one had left, he raised one eyebrow at Java as if to say, "Is something wrong?" in a plain tone which he knew would infuriate her._

_Java's blood pressure immediately, starting to soar at the way that he was acting although she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had got to her and so tried to keep her eyes from rolling as she said, "You wanted to see me?"_

_She could not stand the way that she only had to be around him for a few moments to start feeling something again, although that was what she had been wishing for a few short moments ago she would have preferred that her reaction to him was not so obvious._

_That was one of the reasons that she had taken so long to come and see him, even though she had been informed that he wished to see her almost four days ago, yet she stood there and acted as if she had no idea that she had done something to antagonise him._

_Mega felt like slapping her for that tongue of hers yet he kept his cool and answered, "Yes I wanted to see you four days ago. Which begs the question what the hell was so important that you did not come on time? Where you on deaths doorstep? Screwing Jay", he said, unable to keep the venom out of his tone._

_He was not sure why but he could not stand anyone being near his side kick, she was his … did they not get it? She was his and only his no other male had any right to be near her although he knew full well that she attracted them like moths to a flame._

_It was only a few seconds later that he realised that he had let his jealously show through, no not jealousy, he could not be feeling jealousy as he had no feelings he tried to convince himself._

_Java was shocked, she was known for being able to read people and she was sure that she had just seen something like jealousy in Mega's eyes and voice yet she convinced herself that she must have been confused, after all Mega would have no reason to be jealous of Jay, unless he liked her which was impossible, was it not?_

_For all intents and purposes the idea of Mega liking her was ludicrous yet the very notion made her feel better about herself and all tingly. She was not sure if it was because he was powerful or because she just wanted someone to love her at that moment, but either way Java knew that she could not let it sway her as it probably was not even true. _

_Even her own husband had not loved her, she reflected, so what reason would Mega have to do so?_

_She felt stupid for even considering it a possibility but would not let Mega know that, no, she would keep it as her own personal humiliation and no one would ever know it. Therefore, deciding that the best course of action would be to be her normal bitchy self she asked, "No Mega, I was not ill and I do not remember screwing Jay, why would it matter if I did?" She taunted, this would not let him know that she wanted his affection somewhere deep down; he would just think that she was a bitch, or at least that was what Java hoped._

_Mega clenched his hands into balls for a second trying to stop himself lashing out at Java as she always seemed to know just what to say to make him loose control. In some ways it was good that she was being this way with him, it meant that he might be starting to get her out of this funk that she had been in lately although that did not mean that he would not stop her attitude – even if it was his main source of entertainment._

"_When I give you an order you will obey it immediately, not when you feel like it. Do you understand?" He asked menacingly staring at her, hard._

_These words took Java by surprise although she knew that Mega did not like to be pissed off he had not really been going on at her too much since Ram's death and she could not fathom why he was all of a sudden as bad as he had used to be._

_Yet, she was not going to allow herself to be bossed around by him, and so answered coldly, "I am not your property to boss around. We are partners in this and you have no authority over me so stop acting as if you do"._

_She had over stepped the mark. Before she got the chance to say another word Mega's blood began to boil and he stood up looming over her before grabbing her by the throat and pinning her to the wall._

"_Partners are we? Funny because I haven't seen you do a buggering thing since the take over. Oh sure when you are told to you do a little bit of work and then that is it. You have lost that fire Java, that thing that makes you special and all you do now is mope around over Ram. Get over it Java because at the moment you are not doing enough to stay around here and I will get rid of you because I can. I will treat you as my partner when you start acting like it rather than like a stroppy brat", he almost growled._

_Mega knew that he could not hold her by the throat for too long and so gripped her arms instead, holding them hard enough to bruise and staring at her darkly as if trying to see inside her soul._

_Java winced in pain as he held her neck but it hurt no where near as much as his words did, he did not like her, not at all. He did not even think that she was doing her job properly, yet another person that thought that she was not good enough. Okay, so it was true that she had not exactly been on form recently but she did not think that she had been doing all that badly._

_Then she felt his hands on her arms instead, and despite the pain the first thing that she did was scream at him, "Oh high and mighty Mega I am so sorry that I have not been doing as well as yourself your highness, but I was the one that had to kill Ram, not you. I had to kill the man that I loved so I am sorry if I feel bad about it"._

_Unable to hold back any longer she felt a tear roll down her cheek, her arms pinned she could not wipe it away so all that she could do was to look away although she knew that it would not stop Mega from seeing it. There was no hiding anymore._

_Mega let out a sigh as he began to realise what was going on in her head and let go of her arms and signalled for her to sit in his chair, he knew that he had to get her over this to get his assistant back but more to the point as much as he hated to admit it he could not just leave her this upset._

"_Sit down Java", he said gently guiding her to the chair._

_She breathed a slight sigh of relief as he let go of her but it did not help the real pain which was in her heart. Her throat felt like she had dry swallowed a big pill and her head was spinning, yet she did not want to seem weak in front of him, which was why she did not sit down when he offered her his chair._

_At first she shook her head no but then feeling him leading her over to it and being ordered she did as she was told feeling very small. Then she looked up at him with watery eyes wondering what he was going to do next._

_Mega knew what the problem was with Java at that moment but also knew that he could not just jump in with it and that he would have to build up to it slowly and so asked, "Is that what this is all about Java? Do you feel guilty because you shot Ram?"_

_He knew that she could not feel guilt over it and that it must be something else but that was not important, the important thing at that moment was what Java thought that it was that was causing her problems although he knew that it had nothing to do with guilt._

_Java let his words wash over her for a few moments and then answered, "Yes", although part of her could hardly believe that she was confiding in Mega there was just something about her which made her want to confide in him and it was not the innocent card that he had played with other girls, this was genuine and they both knew it._

"_I am pure evil and that let me kill him without a second though, I gave up love for nothing. I will never find another person who thinks that I am worth something. I just want to feel wanted", she said looking down in shame as she could not bear to look at him after that confession._

"_Do not be stupid", Mega blurted out after only having heard the words for a second, "Ram never loved you, he loved Ebony and maybe even Siva but never you. There is nothing about you that he even vaguely liked. You know that. When you shot him you knew that, that was why you shot him because you knew that he deserved it and that we both know that you would do it again if you had to"._

_He knew that he was showing emotion, knew that it was weakness but seeing Java like that made him want to kill Ram again and he could not stop himself from continuing, "You have got every single Techno man – and a few of the women - on this base running after you because they think that you are a goddess. I admit, when I was weaker I even thought of you that way, but not anymore. You are a perfect evil woman … but no goddess. You let your dreams mix in with reality to make you believe that there was more there than there ever was"._

_Mega took a breath to calm down before continuing in a calmer almost caring tone, "Open those gorgeous brown eyes of yours and look around you. You can see a lot in people that most people cannot and you are evil enough and cunning enough to make a great side kick. You just have to get over this. Java you have so much going for you, do not blow it all over one dream, because that is all that he will ever be. He was never the man for you". With that he turned his back to her as he could not take this. _

_Since the day that he had seen Java all of those years ago when he had first come to the Techno base he had been drawn to her knowing that she would be the perfect partner in crime but what he had not counted on was the fact that as he spent more time with her he started to care for her._

_No one else in the world had an effect on him but her he cared for to some extent in his own twisted way. It had come upon him so suddenly that he had not even noticed in until that moment._

_Java looked up at him as she realise that what he was saying was true, it had never been Ram who sorted out any problems that she had with any Techno men that she could not handle by herself – not that that happened very often. _

_Finally, she realised that everything with Ram had just been her way of dealing with the fact that things had gone down badly and that she wanted to believe that she was loved. _

_She did not know what Mega had done to her but he had some how managed to wipe all images of Ram out of her head so that she was not worried about him anymore. She stood up and walked over to Mega and walked in front of him lifting his head up with her finger._

_Whatever it was that she had wanted to say to him was forgot as she noticed his big eyes and pouty lips, there was no reason to want Ram. Mega was everything that she wanted. Somewhere deep down she guessed that she had known all along but had not been able to admit it to herself._

_She reached around to the back of Mega's head and pulled him down to kiss her sweetly on the lips, tingles shot through her body as for the first time ever, she felt truly cared for._

_Mega's eyes grew wide as he felt her kissing him although he responded to the amazing kiss he had only just placed his hands on her hips when it ended._

_He looked at her with big eyes, he could not deal with this right then, it was all too much for him at that moment, he had only just come to terms with the fact that he might be capable of human feelings let alone possibly loving Java._

_Java looked up at him and knew that he could not deal with that yet and so pulled back and smirked evil, "Not bad, but you could defiantly work on that", she teased, although she was still licking her lips trying to retain some of the sweetness._

_With that she turned and sashayed towards the door swinging her hips invitingly with her old attitude swiftly recovering._

"_What?" Mega gasped in astonishment, "is that it?"_

"_Oh no, it is just the beginning, see you tonight lover", Java purred with a look at him over her shoulder as she opened the door and walked out into the light._

_Smiling slightly at the retreating site he mused, "Damn that woman is going to kill me … but what a way to go"._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Rega, Slebony, Jady and Lex/Ram – some only references to though.

**Rating**: PG-13 for this chapter I think, there is some mild language.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

A regret filled sigh escaped Mega's lips as he starred down into the amber liquid which filled his glass, wondering how much it would take to drown out his pain.

It was with a bitter laugh that he remembered the day that he had finally realised that he had feelings for Java, he had been so confused at the time wishing that he could block out all of his feelings for her thinking that it was the worst thing in the world, but it was not as he had found out. The worst thing was loosing her and living with the guilt of it.

"Damn her", he growled, "Why will she not just leave me alone? I did not ask for her to make me love her. I did not ask her to screw up my life. Damn her", he practically roared this time as his glass went flying, crashing into the wall and staining the wall.

He slammed his eyes out in an effort to block out the memories yet the vision of her long braids, dark eyes and evil smile taunted him.

_Mega walked down the corridors as he always did trying desperately hard not to give any of the other Technos the slightest hint that something had changed, that he was not the same person as he was before. _

_He had fought with the idea ever since Java had pressed her soft lips against his, since he had found out how good it could feel to be held and since those teasing flirting eyes of hers had bewitched him. Ever since that moment, the only thing that he had been able to think about was her offer of what they could do that night._

_It had taken years for Mega to get to the point where he felt that nothing could hurt him, until he had stamped out all human emotion, yet, with only a few words she had destroyed him._

_Everything that he had worked for was lost in the second that he realised that he wanted her more than anything else but being Mega he knew that he could not allow that._

_He remembered the way that his father had treated him, making him feel as if he was not worth anything, the way that his mother and Slade had just abandoned him and then how disgusting they all were. The way that they had allowed themselves to be controlled by their emotions, it was his lack of emotions that would stop him from becoming like them; it was that which would keep him strong. _

_Mega had advanced down the hallway now until he was coming up to Java's room, she would be expecting him, she would probably kiss him again if not more. Mega's pace sped up slightly as he was anxious to get to her, yet, then he realised that she would make him feel, make him weak and that his wanting her was like a plague that would destroy him. _

_He had to stop this. He could not allow himself to be destroyed and so he sped up even more, his fists clenching with determination as he passed her door and walked into the main control room. _

_There were a few men still in there, "Get out"; he ordered trying to keep his voice void of all emotions, until they left. Only then did he allow himself to sit down at his computer yet before his monitor even came on Java had polluted his mind once more._

"_No, I will not give into you", he vowed, slamming his fist down onto his desk as his computer finally loaded up and he began to type, his mind repeating, "Do not think of Java, do not think of her, she will destroy you"._

_Java smile to herself as she finished her hair make up and checked her braids once more, her hands almost shaking with a mixture of nerves and excitement. She could hardly believe that she had never noticed how handsome Mega was when now he was all that she could think of._

_There was nothing about him that did not draw her to him so why had she not noticed it before? _

"_I was so stupid", she admitted to herself as she toyed with her necklace hoping that everything would go alright that night. Java was the master of planning and manipulation, she had to be in order to survive yet she did not want to fool Mega, she actually wanted her to like her … well not like, she knew that he was not capable of that, she wanted him to value her._

_Never before in her life had anyone valued her. There father had always liked Siva better, their mother had favoured Ebony, Siva had loved Ebony rather than her. But, as Java had always said, it did not matter, love and caring were not important, all that was important was power and revenge and she would have all of those things – although it might be nice to be loved, just for a little while._

_Mega was right, she had been a fool to think that Ram would ever have loved her and he had died for it, as had her mother, father and soon so would Siva and Ebony … once they were of no further use._

_Everyone who had hurt her would soon die, the thought caused an evil smirk to tug at her lips as an odd calmness flowed through her, Mega seemed to be the only person who valued her scheming ability and that was why she was determined to make things work with him._

_Yet, as time ticked by she realised that he was not going to be coming yet giving into things was not in her nature and so she got up and automatically knowing where he would be walked into the computer room locking the door behind her._

_She moved over to him so that she was standing behind him and ran one hand gently along his shoulder to get his attention, "I waited for you", she said simply._

_Mega was so focused on what he was doing he did not even notice Java entering until he felt her rubbing his shoulder gently, his traitorous body relaxed under her caress but upon realising what was happening he forced himself to tense up. He could not let her know how he felt about her; he could not let her break down his defences._

"_Why?" He asked, hoping the his voice did not betray how much it injured him to hurt her like he was about to, "Oh right that kiss thing, look Java I really think that you might have read too much into that". He ducked his head slightly and kept his eyes focused on the screen._

_Java gasped slightly at his words, he did not want her, he never would, yet she would not be sad for long, her defence reaction kicked in and she moved his chair around lightly and grabbed his face in her hands making him look her dead in the eyes._

_She looked at him for a minute, blinking slightly trying not to let the tears fall and her anger to reach its peak._

_Mega looked into her eyes and wanted to kill himself, he should die a thousand, no a billion horrible deaths for making her look so sad but he knew that it could not be helped. He battled off the voices in his head which were telling him to forget about everything and kiss her and forced himself to utter the words, "It was just hormones, nothing more. I am incapable of love, of caring, of any type of emotions. It does not matter how evil, cunning, ruthless, beautiful or perfect you are I just cannot …"_

_As the list of her attributes came out the voices in his head reminded him of how wrong it was of him to give into his instincts yet after a moment Mega declared, "Oh sod it", and pulled her into his lap kissing her eagerly._

_Java responded with equal desire, their tongues battled as they hungrily ripped off each other's clothes until they lay together writhing pleasures on Mega's computer desk._

"It was lust", Mega reflected, "it started as nothing but lust and admiration and that is how it should have stayed, I should never have allowed myself to become so bewitched by her".

"Bewitched", a voice broke through his thoughts, "you can only be talking about Java. Look I know how it feels to loose her, but you cannot drink yourself into oblivion".

Ram moved closer to Mega subconsciously taking in every line of the taller man's body wondering how the situation could be used to his advantage. He craved Mega and he had ever since he had first laid eyes on him, he had known just how dangerous Mega really was yet he had not denied him the resources that he wanted in the hopes that one day he could find a way into Mega's heart.

Of course at the time he had not known that he felt this way about Mega, no he had been in blissful ignorance as to why he would do those things yet then, one night about a month ago it had hit him and he knew that he had to make Mega his.

Ever since then he had been snooping around Mega waiting for a chance to be of help to him and to try and win Mega over and while it had never really worked out as he had hoped they were at least now on close enough terms that he could come over and talk to him about personal issues.

But this seemed like the perfect opportunity, Mega was hurting and confused, if only he could exploit it to his purpose then maybe this time his plan to make Mega his own may actually succeed.

"You know nothing. We fooled you into thinking that she died, you know that", Mega said with no feeling, "Do you really think that Java would be stupid enough to get killed like that? No, she is smart, and cunning, she would have shot Ebony in the back when there were no witnesses".

"Yeah. Look I know that I did not really loose her then, I mean I was there when she came back, we all saw her fighting at the battle but for a time I thought that the woman that I loved was dead, so I know what you are going through …"

Mega rebelled against him as he said that, the things that Ram had done for him in the past month made no difference as he began to rant his anger and hurt. "No you do not. Java dying would not have been as bad. Do you not get it? Everyone is talking about how good it was of me to go and fight virtual Zoot to save you all but I did not do it for you. I did it for Java. There was no way that she could have got out in time and I knew that I had to do something to help her because at the time the worst thing in the world that I could image was that Java would die, now I know that there are much worse things".

"Like waking up, expecting to find yourself in burning fire and hellish torment only to find out that you have awakened into something much worse. That the woman for whom your heart beats has used a risky version of paradise to save your life only to plunge herself into a coma. Do you know what it is like to sit there holding someone's wrists, your heart stopping in between each heart beat for fear that they have passed away and you would not know? All the time telling yourself that they will be fine but never really believing it. To have to take refuge with people that hate you in order to make sure that she is safe and to repay them for taking her in when they did not have to?" A tear rolled down Mega's cheek.

"Do you know what it is like to hear her scream out in pain and realise that she is in a night mare that you cannot wake her up from. To know that it should be you experiencing the pain that she is feeling and finally deciding to rid her of the pain, holding a knife to her heart preparing to drive it in and save her from the dream and everything bad in the world, but hesitating for just one minute, and then another and then another, convinced that she is going to wake up the next second", there was a pause.

Mega wiped away the tear which had fallen earlier before he continued, "And then, when she finally does wake up to see that there is nothing behind her eyes. You think that she has brain damage and that the woman that you love it gone but then everything comes back to her. That is almost worse".

He took a breath, "Do you know what the first thing that she did was? She looked up at me with joy, and reached up her hand, touching me as if to check that I was real. She was just so damned happy to see me, as if I was everything to her and all that I could do was sit there. Part of me wanted to hold her and never let her go and the other parts scream at her that I was not worth all of that".

A heavy silence gripped the café as Mega's tirade concluded. Ram swallowed slightly, hardly able to believe that he had just witness Mega opening up a little. Every thought about taking advantage of Mega vanished from his mind as he realised how much he needed Java and how much Java probably needed him in return.

Mega had always seemed to ice cold that he could not believe that felt so much for Java, without a second thought he announced, "You need to talk to her. Not doing so is going to kill you".

"But doing so might kill her. Every time I see her all that I can think of is how much I hurt her", Mega said, "I cannot let her be hurt like that".

"You do not think that she is hurting not being with you? Just take a chance on it", Ram advised as he got up and left Mega to think.

"He does not understand, but then how can he? I cannot live one more day seeing her and knowing that I can never be a part of her life. Knowing that I will only cause her even more pain", Mega thought as he stood up and walking up to the roof of the mall.

"I cannot do this", he finally admitted to the empty air, "While I am here she cannot move on and I cannot stop thinking about her", he walked up until he was out on the edge of the roof.

"Listen God, I have never asked for anything for you and I am not even sure if you exist but I guess that all of this hula blue about Christmas shows that a hell of a lot of people believe that you do. You know even Java believes in you and I cannot believe that everything that I feel for her is just chemicals or that she is on the earth by chance", he took a deep breath to collect his thoughts as the cold air whipped around him.

"Please God, look after her. Send me to hell once I am gone, take everything that you need to from me but see that she is happy", he pleaded as he let himself fall, never knowing what would happen next.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Rega, Slebony, Jady and Lex/Ram – some only references to though.

**Rating**: NC-17 for this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The wind whipped his face as he opened his arms as darkness swept over him leaving him to his despair. He felt as though he was already falling but upon opening his eyes once more, expecting to see the pavement looming ever closer he saw that he was still on top of the roof.

Why was he still here? There was nothing to keep him here yet as he went to force himself over the edge once and for all he heard the call of the wind surrounding him, comforting him telling him not to do it in its accented purr.

He felt comforted, her presence surrounded him, there was no longer any sound, the wind had died down and his ears tried desperately to listen for the sound of her approach but there was none, yet he knew that she was drawing closer to him.

He needed to push himself over the edge, before she touched him, before she spoke again and he was a slave to her once more, this was the one chance that he had to be free of her and to let her have the life that she deserved, he had to do this.

Gathering his strength he pushed himself yet he found himself against an invisible barrier which he could not break through. As he felt her getting nearer he pushed more and more desperately yet he could not do and as her arms wrapped around him he gave up, his head hanging low.

A few seconds ago he had been tormented by the thought of what her touch would feel like, almost being able to feel her yet he was wrong. He had not been able to feel her; it was like a blind man trying to take in the beauty of the Mona Lisa. When she place her hands on him there was no more thoughts, no more attempts to flee, he was her prisoner and damned for life yet he accepted it.

His memory of her voice was nothing compared to the soft words that erupted from her full lips telling him, "You jump now you take me with you, could you harm me?" His heart broke, yes he could harm her and he would but he loved her too much to ever wish to.

Before he knew what he was doing the words, "Never intentionally", escaped him and he found himself turning to face her once more. His breath was ripped from his body as he saw her standing there, her dark skin illuminated in the light from the moon, her luscious lips beckoning and her black eyes telling him secretes that her voice would never dare utter.

"Mega", she murmured slightly as she looked up at him her arms still firmly clamped around his waist, her eyes begging him not to leave her.

"I am not going anywhere", he assured her, brushing her braids back soothingly and descending him head onto hers. He could smell her sweet sense igniting every fibre of his being to be near her, he could feel her under his fingers. She was intoxicating.

He took everything about her in as he allowed his lips to brush gently against hers sending tingles shooting from him and making him feel as if he could take on the world and win. His hand cascaded from her braids down her back to settle around her waist holding her as he breathed out his hot breath puffing out onto her lips making her yearn for more.

Java was desperate for him, she had seen him about to jump, brought him back from the brink yet none of that matter any more as her need gnarled at her. She pushed her lips against his trying to force him to respond, she felt as if she would break if she did not have him that second.

Mega smirked almost teasingly as he pulled his head just far away enough so that she could not reach him. If truth be known he wanted her just as much but this was not about lust, it was about love and making it perfect for her so he stroked her braids back once more making her offer her sweet mouth up to him once more.

He massaged her lips slowly with his own making her mould to his movements before slowly allowing her access to his tongue and lavishing her own with attention. He quenched his hunger for her just enough to stop himself from undressing her there and then and instead gathered her up into his arms and carried her to his room where he laid her down on his bed.

Her eyes glazed the lust, her lips swollen from his kiss and his name on her tongue; she had never looked more beautiful to him.

Slowly he removed her clothes from her glistening body and allowed his mouth of explore every inch of her tantalising flesh, her moans and pleading whimpers preventing his devouring mouth from moving too fast..

She writhed beneath him the heat which was mounting scorching her as she pleaded for him to take her, declaring her love for him in ardent terms of wanting and in sonnets of ever lasting love yet from Mega, no words came.

He slipped slowly into her, giving her wave after wave of pleasure until her eyes glistened with pure ecstasy yet as they lay together and cooled as slumber descended on one of the couple tears trickled from Java's dark eyes.

Never before had she felt closer to him yet still no words of love passed his lips, she thought that she felt his love for her yet without the words it could just have been a trick of her hormones of the chemicals in her brain playing tricks on him. Part of her just could not understand why he would have ignored her for so long if he really loved her.

Words swamped her mind, as she wondered how to ask him what she need to and what she would say if he was to say that he did not love her. These were the thought that at length closed her eyes.

Warm kisses played across her skin in ticklish trails beseeching her to open her eyes once more to reveal that it was morning and that the man to whom her heart belonged was once more holding her. For a moment, as his eyes looked her on her and his kisses rained, she closed her eyes savouring the feelings as her determination wavered.

She wanted to stay like that forever and as so many had said 'curiosity killed the cat', if she did not ask him then there was no way that he could say that he did not love her yet as the seconds ticked by she realised that she could not go on not knowing.

"What is on your mind?" His rich voice asked her, causing her to open his eyes once more, "I …" she started but her voice died away as she realised that she could not do it. She could not ask him right then and there, yet before she could think of something else to say new words sprung forth, "I love you Mega, more than anything in this world", she found herself saying, "but I know that you are incapable of saying it back now but I cannot live any longer not know if you love me or not. Not knowing why are you avoiding me. Not knowing when I am next going to see you. Tonight is Christmas Eve; you have until midnight tonight to make up your mind".

"Tomorrow I am going to either stay here with you or leave, I would rather live without you completely than with you but without your love", Java announced as she forced herself to leave the bed and pull her clothes on.

Mega's fists clenched as a ball formed in his throat, he needed to force his dry mouth to form words, to get her to stay with him. He opened his mouth and saw her smile at him sadly yet he could to get the words together. He was not good enough for her, he needed something spectacular to prove himself to her so as he watched her leave he vowed, to himself, "I will prove myself and my love to you, Java".

His gaze travelled over to the clock, the red light flashed 10:00 am, "14 hours in which to prove my love", he thought, "well this is going to be a challenge but I will not loose you again Java".


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Rega, Slebony, Jady and Lex/Ram – some only references to though.

**Rating**: NC-17 for references to sex.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

"I hate you, you bastard". Ebony's words thundered down the halls of the Mall sending the message to its inhabitants to take cover as Ebony was on the war path once more. No sooner had the rumbling died down than a loud crash could be heard followed by muffled curses.

The fragments of Tai-San's crystal lay on the floor at Lex's feet, "Why?" He asked, the glimmer of a tear in his eyes as the sight of the shattered remnants of his last reminder of his dead wife stared him in the face.

Lex and Ebony had had an on the off then on again relationship for a few months now and they had had their fair share of fights and steamy make up sessions yet she had never gone so far as to try to really hurt him like this before. She had accepted that his heart belonged to another and he knew that he was just a method of getting over Slade.

"Why?" Ebony's voice made a whinny impression of his own, "Because I felt like it. Do you not get it? I am sick of you. I am sick of waking up in the morning to see your ugly face drooling all over me. To see you pretending that you still love Tai-San and that you are morning when you have slept with half the mall since her death", she now growled.

"I should just leave you right now; I do not even know why I came here. Probably because I felt sorry for you. Poor little Lexy boy, no wife, no girlfriend, nothing. That is what you are Lex, nothing. That is all that you have ever been and ever will be. You think that people are afraid of you? Well here is the truth sweetie, no one ever feared you, they were repulsed by you", she ranted her frustrations.

"Stop it Ebony", Lex warned in an oddly calm manner.

"Stop What? Oh what's the matter does the truth hurt? No one ever respected you Lex; you were never a great warrior Lex. You were always a weak little boy who had to be looked after by the others. What do you tell yourself at night? How do you live with yourself without remembering how you tried to rape Zandra, how you were forced out of being leader? Oh that is right Lex; I know all about that, everyone does. I do not know why I even came here", she spat, her spite filling her.

Lex snapped, for months he had been taking this from her, letting her use him because of the way that he had felt about her for all of those years, yet it was gone now, there was nothing in her that he loved anymore. The once proud and ruthless Ebony had lost her force, she was no longer a warrior who commanded respect but some hurting little girl trying to cause as much as pain as possible in an attempt to relieve a little of her own suffering.

"You are here because you have no where else to go. Because no one in the world loves you anymore. You could live with that knowledge in the past when you thought that no one ever could, even when you thought that you had lost Slade's love because you pushed Ruby in front of the truck in the battle against the Technos, but I guess it was just too much for you to know that he still loved you. He came to take you back and you through pure pride pushed him away and sentenced yourself to misery", Lex announced, his tone honest yet guilt sodden as despite what Ebony had done and said to him, he still had no wish to hurt her as much as he knew that these words would. Yet, they had continued this charade for too long, it was finally time for some honesty and a few home truths.

His words pierced Ebony like a knife in the heart; she knew that he was right, she could remember the second that Slade had come to apologise to her and that she had blown everything. She should have never fought with him in the first place, it was a stupid thing to do, she should have known that Ruby was lying, she had said so often enough so why oh why could she not, just have believed it?

As she thought about it, the memory of the fight and its events swarmed back to her, making her relive the awful scene when all that she wanted to do was forget that it had ever happened.

"_Ebony how could you do something like that, how could you try to kill my child?" Slade asked her resting his head in his hands, hardly able to believe what he had just heard. His girlfriend, the woman that he loved enough to spend the rest of his life with had just pushed the possible mother of his child in front of a truck._

_She gulped slightly as the skin around her neck became all hot and uncomfortable as if she was a small child being told off; she could hardly believe how angry and distraught he was. Part of her wanted to hold him and make him feel better until she realised that he was angry at her._

_Immediately all thoughts of reconciliation vanished, no one spoke to her like that if they wished to continue living, "Well she was not pregnant was she? No, she was just a sad little liar and if I had not pushed her then she probably would not have even told you, she would have let you believe that you were a father and destroyed your relationship with me over it until she managed to get her claws back into you. Do you not see that she is the one that you should be mad at, she lied to you, not me?"_

_Slade took in a deep breath, before exhaling slowly trying to clam himself down for a moment, "Ebony, you do not understand. The point is that you believed that she was pregnant with my child and tried to kill it. As far as you were concerned you did kill the child and you think that that is acceptable. I am not your property Ebony, you cannot change what I have done and we cannot have a relationship if you find it so impossible to trust me"._

"_So that is it, we are over?" Ebony spoke after what seemed like an eternity. She could not understand it; with a few sounds he had destroyed their relationship._

"_Ebony …" Slade said extending a hand to touch her but she recoiled from him as if his arm was a serpent, "Do not Slade, just do not", she said with a defeated sigh. "You know something you were the first guy that I ever really loved. I mean, I have been infatuated with someone before, even managed to make myself believe that I was in love but I have never really been in love before and the truth is that I do not know why I am so crazy in love with you, but I do not care. Maybe you can switch your feelings off easily but I cannot. If you cannot see that I love you and that everything that I did was for love of you then you are the stupidest guy in the world because one day you will realise it and it will kill you knowing that you turned your back on love. I am going to be fine without you, but you … I hope the knowledge that you lost the one woman in the world who could make you happy and who truly loves you, sends you to a lonely grave"_

_With that Ebony left the room her head held high and the tears held inside as she had done so many times before, she would go on with life as she always had, without Slade, without anyone to love her and she would … she would … she did not know, but she would make sure that she survived and that she got her revenge on Ruby for everything that she had caused._

_She walked into the Café where she saw Ruby and Lex together, Ruby doing her best to appeal to Lex's sexuality and as Ebony saw she was doing rather a good job of it yet Ebony would not allow Ruby to think herself desirable._

_Without giving herself time to think, Ebony walked straight over to Lex and ran her hand down him arm getting his attention quickly. Lex leant back in his seat and appraised Ebony's body knowing what she wanted from the way that she had touched him._

"_Excuse me we were talking", Ruby's voice cut in, as she tried to get Lex's attention back yet he was long gone, yet another helpless victim of Ebony's charms._

"_Well thank-you for trying to keep him amused until I got here but now I do not think that there is any use for you, come on Lex", she said simply walking off to his room with him in tow. Lex walked into his room after Ebony and asked, "You and Slade have a fight?"_

"_How did you know?" Ebony asked, shocked at how well he knew her. Every time that she was in trouble Lex always seemed to be there, and the strange thing was that he was always trying to help her rather than hurt her. They had stopped fighting against each other the day that they had kissed in the cage yet they could never have been called friends._

"_Because otherwise you would be with him rather than coming to cry on my shoulder", Lex announced as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I do not cry", Ebony objected._

"_Everyone does, and the sooner that you accept that 'sweetheart' the better because playing the tough bit has not been working for you now has it? If you are not here to cry what are you here for?" He wondered, normally when she was really upset she came to him and he was only too happy to try and make her feel better although if it was not that then he was out of ideas._

"_Sex", Ebony said simply, pushing him gently to the bed so that she was stood between his open legs, "Come on Lex, we both know that you have had a crush on me since we first met, so why not take what you want so much?" _

_Lex swallowed, he was Sexy Lexy, he took what he wanted, he followed no rules, he wanted Ebony and loved sex … yet he could not do this, "I cannot", he said after a minute, holding her hips, "it is not that I do not want to, because believe me I do but it is not fair, you are hurting, you will regret it in the morning"._

"_No, I will not", Ebony denied, forcing her lips onto his and straddling his waist focusing him to lie down on the bed._

"_Yes. You. Will." He managed to gasp in between heated kisses until Ebony ground against his manhood causing all other thoughts of fly from his mind., "Fine you asked for it", he growled primitively flipping her under him._

Ebony cursed herself for her stupidity, even after sleeping with Lex she could still have patched things up with Slade if she had not been so proud.

_The next morning Ebony got out of Lex's bed feeling as bad as she had done the day before although a little calmer but a lot more dirty. She was glad that Lex had a converted ensuit that she used to shower. _

_After spending a good 30 minutes under the steamy hot water she felt a little better and wrapping herself in one of Lex's clean shirts she walked over to the door and heard voices. Placing her ear against the door she realised that it was Slade, he was probably wondering where she was thinking that she had left so that she would never have to see him again or something like that. _

_Her decision made Ebony pressed against the door she was going to show herself to Slade, she was going to show him that he was not the only man in her life and what he was missing, yet as Slade came into view, she heard more of his words._

"_Please Lex, I have to find Ebony, I have to tell how sorry I am. I need her too much, I know that I can work things out with her", Slade's words hit Ebony as she revealed herself to him. Her eyes widened as she realised that she had just screwed up any chance of a future with him, for good._

_As Slade's eyes filled with the sight of Ebony he thought that he was going to be sick. There was the woman that he loved, in another man's shirt, after spending the night in another mans bed._

"_Do not say anything Ebony", he warned her as he left, "we are over"._

Ever since that moment Ebony had hated herself and others even more, any chance to hurt another person, no matter how small she was exploit it trying to make them feel as terrible as her yet she was not going feel any better she finally realised.

Slowly tears dripped from Ebony eyes, "He's never going to love me again is he Lex? I'm never going to feel okay again, am I? Will I just die like this?"

Lex should have been mad or something after what she had said a few minutes ago yet he simply could not stand seeing Ebony so upset and quickly gathered her into his arms and rocked her back and forth, "It will be alright one day Ebz".

"Why can I not fall for you, Lex?" She asked as she calmed down a little, "for the same reason that I cannot fall for you, we are both meant to be with someone else", he replied in a solemn tone.

"Siva?" Ebony asked.

"No".

Ebony looked up at him in confusion wondering who it could be if it was neither her nor Siva. Neither of them guessed that there was someone else listening to their conversation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Lexony, Slebony - some only references to though.

**Rating**: PG-13 for this chapter, again there is some mild language.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic. And the song was sang by Mariah Carey – and doubtless countless others but that is the version that I heard.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"Do you always listen in on people?" A cold tone broke through Slade's thoughts as Mega came into view. During the months that Java had been in a coma Slade and Mega had formed some form of brotherly bond, they watched out for each other to some extent.

"Only when it is the woman that I love in the arms of another man", Slade said plainly, not even trying to hide his despair anymore. He was the man who would never allow himself to be tied down to any one woman yet here he was moping over Ebony like some love sick school boy.

Mega rolled his eyes, "She is in the arms of another man so you go in there and take her back. It really is not all that hard. You know as well as I do that no relationship between Ebony and Lex could never last".

"But every time that I try to talk to her she shoots me down before I even get the chance to talk to her about what happened between her and Lex", Slade explained with a sigh.

"Well what did happen?" Mega wondered. He knew that his brother and Ebony had broken up but he had no notion as to why. As soon as it had been discovered that Ebony and Java were not really related as Java and Siva had both been adopted, Ebony and Java had stopped talking to each other point blank and had decided not to even meddle in each others affairs – not that Mega was even sure if Java would have told him if something had happened as they had not been all that close lately – and he had been too distracted to talk to Slade enough to find out what had happened before this point in time.

Slade looked up at his brother for a moment before answering, "We had a fight and the next morning I went to make up with her but I could not find her, I searched everywhere and started asking all of the other Mall Rats if they had seen her but none of them had, but Lex was not around so I went to find him. He was in his room and I asked him if he had seen Ebony but when I did so, she walked out of his bathroom in his shirt. I told her that we were over and left".

Mega looked at Slade without sympathy and then honestly announced, "You are an idiot. Java and Ebony are more alike than they both care to admit - and you will not tell Java that or she will kill me. While they will both fight to the bitter end for what they want, although everyone else thinks that it is impossible for them to achieve what they want, they know better. If they can see that there is a way of getting it then they will, whether that is friends, money, or power. Yet not for love".

"They both value it too much. Which is why when it is given to them, they would both rather die or live without that other person rather than showing weakness in the eyes of the one that they love. If you told Ebony that it is all over then she will not come crawling back to you, she will try and get revenge, show that she is better and that you have no effect on her".

"What can I do?" Slade asked the younger man, he had tried to live without Ebony for far too long, he needed to have her back in his life, if not as his lover then at least as his friend. He simply could not live without her and be even remotely happy.

Mega thought about it, "You have to show her that she is the only one that you want in a big display of affection and pledge your undying love to her and all of that stuff. The only reason that she did all of that stuff was because she was insecure about you. Just show her that you love her and it will probably be fine, although I would recommend talking to her first", Mega added.

"So basically, this is all, my own fault", Slade proclaimed.

"Basically, yes. You forgave her for everything that she did in her past but did not take into account that she was going to do more stuff like that. I think that it is cute when Java does things like that but even if you do not, you cannot condemn her for things like that, just let her know that you are not going anywhere and it should be fine", Mega explained.

"Right", Slade said, "How did you get so smart and how come I have the pleasure of your company now, when I have not since Java woke up, she been working you too hard?" He joked, only just forgetting about his own problems to notice that he brother was suddenly around when he had not talked to him for what seemed like ages.

"I had to get the brains to make up for your lack of them", Mega replied, not jokingly but not intending offence either, "I wish. Believe it or not we broke up … sort of … and I have until midnight to prove that I love her to keep my Java. Even more strangely, I came to ask for your help on the matter but after seeing how badly you screwed things up with Ebony I do not think that I will bother".

Slade was about to answer when he saw Ebony walking out of Lex's room and up into the café where he was sitting. He tore his eyes away from her stunning beauty for a moment, in order to tell Mega to bugger off, only to see that he had already gone.

He knew that it was now or never, and said, "Hello Ebony".

Ebony finally felt calm enough to venture out of Lex's room and made her way to the Café hastily knowing that normally there would be no one in there at this time of day as she did not want to see anyone at that moment, she just wanted to get some chocolate and leave.

But then she heard Slade's sweet tone filling the room, "Oh damn it", she thought to herself as she felt her heart rate speed up a little. She hated the way that something as insignificant as his voice could affect her so strongly, making her want to do all sorts of naughty things to him even though she knew that any form of relationship between them had been destroyed the second that he had seen her in Lex's shirt.

The longer that she was away from him the more that she realised that she really had loved him – and still did. But she could not try and force herself into his heart the way that she had done with so many other men. No, with him she wanted him to love her for who she was or not at all.

Ebony could not let herself appear weak in front of him or let him know that she was still crazy about him and went straight into warrior mode, she walked over to the kitchen with her back to him while saying, "Hello Slade", in an almost bored tone, hoping that he would not notice the way that she yearned for him.

Slade could not keep a small smile from tugging at his lips when he saw that she was in a little mood, he could always use those to his advantage. Slade walked behind her and taking something out of his pocket wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

Ebony started at the sudden contact, "What do you think that you are doing?" She demanded trying desperately hard to ignore how damned good his arms felt holding her nice and tightly.

"I am just giving you this dairy milk and whole nut chocolate bar, rather than the plain chocolate that you are stealing at the moment. I know that you prefer this kind".

Although puzzled for a moment, Ebony turned around in his arms not realising how close their lips now were, "Thank-you", she said quietly, "but why are you giving me this, you hate me".

"Do not be ridiculous Ebony, I love you", Slade announced, wondering why in the world she would think that he did not love her.

"You what?" Ebony gasped as she stared at him in utter shock. She could not believe what she was hearing, "You cannot have just said that you love me. You stopped loving me when you saw me with Lex, which is why we are not together. You cannot just tell me that you still love me, when we cannot be together". A kind of desperation took her over as she begged him to tell her that he no longer loved her. He had said that they were over, which had hurt yet she could not live knowing that he loved her and that there was no hope for them to ever be together again.

She had had years of practice of the men that she wanted not loving her and was used to it, she could find a way to deal with it but him telling her that he still loved her, that there was no reason for them not to be together yet still they were apart was tearing her up.

"Ebony", Slade said, stroking her braids trying to calm her down and making her look into his eyes, "I love you now as much as I ever did. I did not say that there was never going to be another chance for us to be together just that our relationship at that time was over. Do you really think that I could go on living if I thought, even for one moment, that that was our only chance to be together?"

"The last time that we tried to have a relationship you did not trust me, you could not trust that I was not going to run of with Ruby but the fact is that the thought never even entered my head. I will admit that I did think about the baby, how I would take care of it, how you would react to it, but never how to get back together with Ruby. The truth is that when I slept with Ruby I made a mistake, before I met you there was nothing be casual sex between me and women, but, with you the fear of letting someone inside of forsaking all other women for just one woman does not seem like such a big challenge", Slade tried to put his feelings into words, "no other woman in the world compares to you".

"I am sorry. I told you that I had no feelings for Ruby and I tried to understand all of the things that you had done to hurt people in the past but I underestimated how desperate you were, if I had known I would not have argued with you in the first place. But I warn you Ebony, if you ever sleep with another man again I am not sure that I will be able to get over it", Slade said now holding her close.

For the first time in what had felt like an eternity Ebony felt happy or at least content. She was not sure if he was saying that he wanted to get back together with her that moment or just that there was a chance for them one day but she did not care, all that she needed was a chance to prove herself to him.

"I love you too, Slade. I really do", Ebony tried to convince him with a sweet kiss on the lips, hardly able to believe how good he tasted after such a long separation.

As they pulled back Ebony smiled teasingly, "You know something I think that I am going to have to rethink this whole getting back together this if that is all that I am going to get". She walk passed him, still keeping eye contact to show that she was only teasing.

"Is that so?" Slade asked, catching up to her with two long strides, wrapping his arm around her waist and dipping her as a dancer would as music started to play. Slade winked to Mega whose face he saw popping out from behind the door and mouthed, "sing", before disappearing once more.

Taking a deep breath Slade began, "I don't want a lot for Christmas there is just one thing I need", pulling Ebony back up and spinning her out so that she was sitting on a chair ready to enjoy the show.

"I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree", he continued as he began to dance for as well which caused Ebony to burst out laughing.

As Ebony's laughter filling the hallways Mega walked away rolling his eyes, to think that he had gone to ask for Slade's help and had ended up getting his brother and Ebony back together. As he thought of the way that Slade had showed his love for Ebony he could not suppress his loathing for the woman, a few sweet words and a little dancing and singing and she was once again a prisoner to Slade's charms. It was just not fair; there was no way that Java would fall for that. First of all, because Mega would neither sing nor dance, and secondly, because Java would attribute it to a massive act and just another stunning display of Mega's acting abilities.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Rega, Slebony, Jady and Lex/Ram – some only references to though.

**Rating**: PG-13 for this chapter I think, there is some mild language.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"What am I going to do?" Mega wondered to himself as he walked into his bedroom, "Well other than worry about the fact that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness you could always talk about the problem to me", Trudy's voice suggested.

"This day just keeps going from bad to worse", Mega sighed to himself as he turned around to see Trudy standing just outside his room door, he figured that she must have followed him just as he entered his room, but out loud he merely asked, "Oh and what good would that do? In case you have not noticed Trudy I am an evil heartless creature that you should not want to talk to, if I told you anything you would probably have nightmares for a month and as much as that would amuse me I have no desire to have Jay following me everywhere demanding to know what I did to you and trying to seduce Java. You really must stop him from doing that",

Trudy started on one of her main (extremely long) talks about how talking to people about problems helped and how he was not entirely evil when she heard his comment about Jay and Java, immediately she jumped on the offensive.

"What is it about Java that you are always so damned nervy when she is near Jay? Jay is with me, or Amber, he is not interested in Java", Trudy almost shouted in frustration.

Mega picked up on something else other than anger in her tone though, sadness. "What is the matter, wonder boy sleeping around again?" He asked, turning in his computer chair to look at her.

"Maybe, I do not know. He probably is, he wants Amber, I know that much and I know that he had that thing with Ebony and possibly even Java a while back but that is all over now. He is with me now, and he is loyal", Trudy said, trying to convince herself halfway through.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself there Trudy?" Mega wondered as he heard what she was saying. He could not help it; there was something about Trudy that he could not help but talk to her. It had started by just trying to get information out of her but over the last few months - especially when Java was in the coma – he had come to talk to Trudy more and more. No one could say that they were friends or anything of the kind but there was defiantly an element to which he knew her well enough to care a little. When he heard of her insecurity he got slightly annoyed.

"Myself I guess. I mean Jay is everything that a man should be, he is gorgeous, a good guy, he is really special. I know that I am not good enough for him and I understand if he wants to be with Amber but I just do not think that I can take it anymore. I gave him a second chance and for a while everything was fine but then he cheated on me with her again. He wants to come back to me again but I do not know if I should take him back", Trudy said with a sigh.

"Of course he wants to come back. He tried the gorgeous woman, but Java would not go out with him and he showed that he was no gentleman as he would not leave her alone. Then he went for the fiery woman, but Ebony was to hot for him to handle. Then the city leader but she had nothing to keep him interested so he went for the nice safe choice, a reasonably attractive woman, kind, with a child. Surely she would never leave him, and for once he was right. He will just keep walking over you Trudy, if he gives you proof that he will treat you right and you cannot live without him then take him back but if not then let him rot in hell", Mega said, his tone annoyed.

To Mega it seemed ridiculous, if you loved someone enough to be with them then you needed to be loyal to them, if you did not love them, then you should not be with them at all. It was quite simple. He did not understand why there was all this drama between Jay, Trudy and Amber.

"Thank-you for the advice, but enough about me, what was that problem that you were thinking of, I have never heard you saying that you did not know what to do before unless it had something to do with Java", Trudy prompted.

Mega's first instinct was to tell her to mind her own business, it was one thing for her to tell him her feelings and wonder how to fix them but he did not want to open himself up but his desperation to have Java back was too great for him to be able to pass up the opportunity to have a woman's opinion.

"Okay. Java has given me until midnight to prove my love for her and I have absolutely no idea how to do so", Mega finally admitted.

"Ask her to marry you, which would prove that you love her", Trudy said with a dreamy expression.

Mega tried to suppress his evil snicker; he could hardly believe that even Trudy could be dense enough to believe that. He could hardly believe just how sweet she was to believe that a ring would keep a man loyal if he would not have been loyal anyway.

He was evil, he really was yet at that moment he had an idea and getting up and ushering Trudy out of the room he said, "Well I am sure that things will work themselves out. I have something to do now", and with that he left Trudy looking perplexed.

Within a few minutes he had found Jay and grabbed him by the throat and forced him into a wall, "Listen Jay, Trudy loves you and she is the best choice for you. Personally, I would rather see rot but that would not help Trudy so you are going to decide once and for all now, do you love her? Are you going to stay loyal to her and ask her to marry you?" Mega growled.

"Okay", Jay answered, knowing that he had no choice if he did not want to make an enemy of Mega and because he did want Trudy.

"Then bugger off, make your over the top overly romantic and wishy-washy proposal, but if I ever find that you cheated on her then I will tear you apart", Mega announced, rolling his eyes as Jay beat a hasty retreat.

Mega glanced at his watch, it read 5:30 meaning that Java would be in the bath about to waste countless hours bathing, he wished that he could see her at that moment but he could hardly tell her that he loved her when she was in the bath tub, it would not be very romantic.

It took less than a second for Mega to realise his own stupidity. There he was thinking about how stupid it was that Ebony needed a massive show of affection to realise true love and how Trudy thought that marriage was the answer to all of her problems, yet here he was trying to think of the most romantic and utterly ridiculous way of her proving himself to Java when he should not have to, as the way that he said it would not change the meaning of his words.

His decisions made, Mega marched towards Java's room and straight into the bathroom to see Java in the bath as he had expected.

Java gasped at the sudden intrusion and turned around to see who had opened the door, fully ready to yell at the impertinent person, yet stopped upon seeing Mega.

"What are you doing here Mega? I thought that you were going to prove yourself at midnight under the tree. What, have you decided that I am not worth it?" She asked in a quivering voice, she did not want that, but knew that it was better that he said that now if he had to, rather than in a years time when she had already been through even more pain.

"No Java", Mega said closing the door behind him and kneeling next to the bath tub as he took her hands in his looking deep into her eyes, "You said that I had until midnight. I know that you think that I should have waited until midnight, sang to you, begged you to believe that I love you and proposed but the truth is that it would not have meant anything and it would have just made you wait longer for my answer".

"I know that there are many things that one is meant to do to be romantic, buy flowers that people do not like and that once picked will die within a few days, buy expensive chocolates which taste horrible rather than the kind that people actually like, and listen to soppy music that neither no one actually likes and that is all fine if that is what other people want to con themselves that they want but the point is that I know that neither of us want any of those things. That is why I am not going to con you with my acting skills, but tell you the truth", he announced.

"You are not the kind of woman that a man wants to be with, you are demanding, heartless most of the time, selfish, evil, jealous and hundreds of bad qualities and I am even worse but the point is that for me, you are simply perfect. I get frustrated by how much you talk about needless things but at the same time I am desperate to hear everything that you have to say. I am not going to propose to you either, I do not want to give you something that binds you to me forever because of a piece of metal rather than love", he continued.

"I know that I do not say that I love you enough or ever in fact but the point is that I do and I will never be the kind of person who is comfortable with public displays of affection but that does not mean that I do not feel it. That is why I am promising you something more than marriage and you are in no way required to reciprocate – although I would be the happiest man in the world if you did", Mega looked down for a second catching his breath.

For the first time in his life he was truly vulnerable, she could destroy him with a word yet he had to tell her, "Java, I love you. And I promise to truly love you forever, I promise that if you were to turn around tomorrow and run off with Ram, that I would still love you until my dying breath and beyond. In this new world even I cannot control the future all the time and I cannot promise that I will never get married and watch you break down as the other woman walks into my arms but my heart will always be with you. If you never hear these words from my lips again just know that I am forever yours, I would go to hell to make sure that you were never inconvenienced and I will never have room for anyone else in my heart other than you".

The weight of what he said finally hit Java with an unexpected force, she had asked for love, expecting a brief show but with no content and instead had been given more than she could have ever imagined. She looked into his eyes and saw the feelings that she thought that she must be crazy for feeling mirrored in his eyes.

For once honest words spilled from her lips without difficult, "I love you the same way Mega. There is nothing that anyone in the world could say or do which could ever stop me loving you".

In that moment the everything was right for the Mega and Java as they realised that there love would never die and that the one would never be without the comfort of the other again … and that despite contrary belief that it was possible to have sex in a bath.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary: **Mega might finally have found love only to find out that he will loose it if he cannot prove his love by midnight. With other complications in the Mall, will he ever manage it?

**Pairings:** Mava, Rega, Slebony, Jady and Lex/Ram – some only references to though.

**Rating**: PG-13 for this chapter I think, there is some mild language.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing; the Tribe belongs to Cloud 9 and Mr. Thomas. All I do is destroy their characters in fanfic.

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**Epilogue**

Lex sat in the café alone, once again it was Christmas and he was alone. He knew that he should have got used to it by now but he still found himself wishing that there was someone there to at least share a drink with him.

"Oh well I guess that it is just you and me now", Lex said as he lifted up his glass in a toast to the vodka bottle which sat opposite him.

"Would you mind some company?" Ram asked as he came into the Café looking forlorn.

"Not at all", Lex said indicating to one of the chairs, pouring someone of the liquor into a glass for Ram, "I take it that you cannot sleep either".

"Who can with those lot practicing for the sex Olympics?" Ram asked as the voice of one of the sisters echoed through the café, Ram quickly drowned the glass in front of him.

"You miss Java?" Lex asked as he noticed Ram's reaction to the cry of pleasure.

"More like Mega", Ram said resting his head in his hands, "I was so close. He was all hurting and vulnerable, I could have got him, it could be with him right now but I just could not do it. He seemed so unhappy".

Lex smirked slightly, "So the great evil Ram does have a heart after all, although I must say tut tut on trying to take advantage of someone when they are feeling down, that is something that only I should do".

"Yeah", Ram said looking up from his hands up to Lex and smiling slightly, "Maybe we should start up a lonely hearts club. Who is it for you, Ebony or Siva?"

"Would you believe neither?" Lex asked as he sat back in his chair, Ram raised an eye brow encouraging him to continue.

After taking another swig off his drink, Lex licked his lips subconsciously and continued, "Well you see I went out with both of them but my heart has belonged to another since the day that the Technos arrived", and then he added in a quieter tone, "since the day that I met you".

"What was that?" Ram asked not having caught the last part of Lex's sentence but none the less realising that Lex was not heart broken, just depressed.

"Um … nothing", Lex said gulping down the rest of his drink as he blushed slightly as he reached for the bottle but felt his wrist being caught in Ram's far stronger grip.

"That is not what you need", Ram purred as he used Lex's wrist to pull him further across the table so that their lips were mere inches away from each other.

"Then what do I need?" Lex wondered breathlessly.

"To be taken advantage of by me and this", Ram answered as he pressed his lips against Lex's, slipping his tongue inside Lex's soft mouth.

Just as Lex was about to respond fully Ram pulled back, not wanting to push Lex too far to fast, and as the clock hit 12 o'clock, he merely whispered, "Merry Christmas", it looked like life was going to go right for once.

The End


End file.
